Living at Whammy's
by CrazyBloodyJam
Summary: AU kind of. So this is my re-write of my other Death Note fan fic 'A Hard Life'. It follows Mello and his new found friend, Matt through their life at Whammy's Orphanage and school, dealing with bullies, their pasts and everyday situations. May hint at abuse and slash.
1. Chapter 1

Woop! I am back and here is the first re-write instalment of my Death Note fan fic! I've tweaked a few things here and there, but I've tried to follow the same things that happened in the old version.

I hope you like it and please review if you do!

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Inside every happy face and every note of laughter is a frown. There is always pain inside a person. Normally it's within the person who seems the most happy with life. They constantly fight the impending darkness attempting to swallow them up, but it's futile, for the battle rages on inside them. Sometimes the soul who fights this seems content. The whole 'I don't care what people think about me' vibe radiates off of them at a high intensity. That was the case for me; Mihael Keehl.

That was my name; Mihael Keehl, but some kids in school began to nickname me 'Mello' because I guess I seemed so... mellow about everything. I was never on anyone's side in a fight and I tried my hardest to keep focused on my studies. Every student and teacher alike thought nothing bothered me so they would constantly pick at me, comment on everything about myself just to try and get a reaction. Children would tease me about the way my blonde hair fell in a slight wave on my shoulders; they could taunt me about the rosary I wore around my neck, they could bully me and bring me down just because they knew I wouldn't retaliate. But in a weird way, I kind of liked the nickname; it made me feel a little normal; unlike my real name. I didn't like who I was, so it made me forget, and helped me carve a new life so to speak.

The dam in my mind was cracked and although people thought nothing could bother me... the truth was... everything did. Things hurt me in a way that wasn't visible to the human eye. Though I hate to admit it, nearly every night I would silently cry myself to sleep in the room I shared with nobody.

I was suffering and only I knew. I didn't confide in anyone, I knew they wouldn't listen; besides my pride wouldn't let me. Okay so it wasn't as though I had never tried to talk to someone. A long time ago, quite often I used to make my way to the top room of the orphanage I stayed in to visit the occupier. The character that lived up there was seldom seen as he would lock himself in his room for days on end. But there wasn't anything stopping a child to go up and visit the strange man.

However, it seemed that every time I went up there for some comfort, somebody else would be there. And it was always the same kid, the one I hated the most. His name was Nate Rivers and for the life of me, I couldn't stand him. The way he acted, how he dressed and the way his monotonous voice droned on in class made my blood boil with rage and jealousy.

So naturally it made me furious to find the smug, white rat with the man upstairs. And it was the same every time; I would climb a countless number of stairs to the top, peek through the crack in the door, false hope and naivety rushing through my veins that maybe the young man would be alone. But it was to no avail. The raven haired man would be sitting in the same chair in an awkward position, feet bare, some sort of sweet hanging from his mouth and a pure haired idiot sitting in his lap. They would be chatting away to each other, comfortable in their own little bubble. Before long I forbade myself from going up there.

A few more years passed and I still avoided the top room, in fact I avoided everyone. I had changed. No longer did I stay neutral in a fight, now I was violent and cruel to the other children. If nobody cared about me then why should I care about anyone else? My anger intensified and I took it out on other people. Screaming, shouting, stealing, punching and cursing were now a part of my life, they became my best friends. The relatively peaceful days of the orphanage had worn thin. The floorboards would crack like thunder as I stormed around, lashing out violently at anybody who challenged me. But I loved it. However despite the violence and havoc I caused, I still prayed. I won't tell a soul but there were times when I still cried wept for a saviour.

So, it became a bit of a surprise one night, when my door was opened and three figures stood in the doorway. I stared at them in curiosity, one was tall and old whom I recognized as Roger; one of the most important people in the orphanage. Then there was another man, he had raven, black hair and was standing in a slouched manor and one of hands was holding that of a smaller person whom I didn't recognize at all.

Roger switched the light on and I glared at him, initiating a staring contest between him and myself. My eyes narrowed even more as the old man gave in, stepped back and closed the door behind him, with a mutter under his breath, which caught my unavoidable attention.

'What's that, Old Man? Why don't you say it to my FACE?' I shouted after him, fury burning in my skull. A slight cough bought my attention back to the situation and the two left in the room with me.

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And we end it there for today :D!  
Again, please review if you liked it and thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

I was going to update this last week, but I had my English coursework to get through first, and well I finished it today, so whoop another chapter!  
Enjoy!

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The strange black haired man blinked his eyes once and stared at me. I squirmed, feeling slightly uncomfortable under this unfamiliar man's gaze.  
"Good evening, Mello," He greeted. My eyes narrowed again in defence.

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" I hissed in frustration.

The man smiled, "You may call me L. I live at the top of this house."  
My eyes widened, I knew I recognized the man from some place before, but it seemed so long ago and nowadays my mind was filled with disorientation and violence.

"Mello, I have come for your help." L stated. I was confused, how could I help L? There was nothing special about me, L was better off going to see Nate. Nate knew the answers to everything and wouldn't lash out like I would. Everyone went to Nate for help, they didn't dare go to me in fear of getting doors slammed in their faces or something being thrown at them with great force.

With a sigh, I replied half-heartedly. "You've come to the wrong person for help. I'm sure Nate would be of better use," L frowned.

"No, no. Nate is already in good use. It's you who I want help from." He insisted. My head lifted and curiosity filled my mind. L lazily grinned and drew a lolly-pop out from his trouser pocket, unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.

"Mello, I would like to introduce you to Matt," He eventually announced, giving the other boy in the room my attention. This boy sitting next to L on the opposite bed to me perked my interest. He had short red hair on top of his head and his eyes were covered by odd looking, thick goggles. He was dressed in plain pyjamas with a sleeveless jacket over the top. He was facing the floor but I could see a few cuts littering across his forehead and he seemed to be slightly quivering.

"Matt will be your new room-mate from now on. I expect you to show him around and look after him for a while; he's been through some tough times so try to be friendly. I've heard some things about you, Mello and I don't want you to let me down," L told me softly. At the mention of his name; Matt looked up and nodded a greeting towards my direction before bowing his head once more.

L got off the bed and stepped over to where I was sat; he crouched in front of me and grasped my hand gently. I began to jerk my hand back and declare that I hated being touched and patronized, but his grip tightened.  
"Mello, if you ever need anyone to talk to, please come up to my room. Nate stopped coming so frequently a while back, and well, you know you're always welcome," He informed "The same to you, Matt. If you ever need any help, please come and see me," L then stood and stumbled out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I stared at Matt, examining him and an awkward silence fell upon us. No one knew what to say.

"Umm, hi" I greeted "My name's Mello." I was rather unsure about this new character. He seemed harmless enough... but you could never be sure.

Matt sniffed and his shaking continued. I was lost for words; I didn't know what to do and I was starting to wish he had been dumped with Nate and saved me from having to deal with his shit. Matt clearly seemed to be in some sort of emotional turmoil, and soon enough, he was sobbing loudly, hiccuping every so often. I frowned and rolled my eyes. Physical contact was normally something I avoided but nonetheless I did the only thing I thought could somewhat help the bawling child. So I slowly went over to the other bed, sat down and wrapped my arms carelessly around Matt.

He felt thin and cold. Trust me for getting the oddball as a room-mate I thought as I felt Matt stiffen, but I didn't let go. Instead I tightened my arms and began to speak to the grief stricken child, annoyance and impatience littering my mind; I sort of hoped it wouldn't show in my voice.

"Matt, don't cry. I'm sure you'll make loads of friends here," I assured the red head dully.

Matt sniffed, pulled away and rubbed his eyes with weary hands. I was thankful I wasn't touching him anymore to be honest for it was all too awkward.  
"No, it's not about making friends... it's just... just..," Matt didn't finish, his tear ducts broke and he started to cry once more. I was so incredibly confused. How the hell was I supposed to deal with this?

"Hey Matt, you can tell me, it's not as if I have anyone to blab to," I replied wickedly. Sure there was a time when I yearned for friends, but I understood now that they would only serve to annoy and irritate me even more than my classmates did. They would also probably try to change who I was, and I hated even the thought of it.

Matt looked up at me astonished. I bet he imagined that someone like me would have tons of friends.

"M...Mello, I'll be your friend... If you want that is," He mumbled, his cheeks filling with blood.

I was stunned. I didn't understand why this strange looking kid, whom I'd only met that night, would want to be friends with the likes of me. And so I came to a cruel coping solution. I would pretend to be friends with Matt, and then when he realized what an awful person I was and decided that he didn't want to be friends with me, it wouldn't sting when I was abandoned.

"Really? I mean no one likes me here, you'll be an outcast." I eventually responded.

Matt nodded as a shy smile etched onto his face. "I'm used to being an outcast so it doesn't bother me. Besides, it'll be fun to have a friend." Now that was suspicious, maybe I was wrong about him.

"Yeah, it'll be damn awesome!" I exclaimed throwing my hands up in the air. Matt looked at me and began to chuckle, but as he began to laugh a little bolder; he groaned and grabbed his mid-drift in obvious pain.

"Matt! Matt what happened? Are you okay?" I frantically asked, I may have been a bit worried about him.

"Oww… I'm okay, Mello. My - I hurt my ribs a little while back, L said they would take time to heal and things like laughing too hard would make them hurt," He replied, a grimace still on his face. He managed to force a smile to reassure me, even though pain was evident in his eyes and I wasn't easily fooled.

"Matt what even happened to you? Why are you here?" I curiously asked. It was clear that something bad had happened to the him, it was obvious. But he remained silent. Well he wasn't obliged to tell me, I wouldn't tell him why I was stuck in the orphanage if I were in his position.

"Matt it's okay; you don't have to tell me if you don't want to… maybe another time?" I hurriedly said in a weak attempt to try and help Matt. It was a success, for Matt lifted his heavy head up and smiled again before he nodded.

"Thanks," He mumbled. Soon after, a yawn erupted from his mouth, and before long, we had both climbed into our beds and slept almost soundly. Matt fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillows and I was so grateful that he didn't snore. The last room-mate I had, snored like an animal so I complained like a whiny brat to Roger for him to move.

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Ah yeah!  
Hope you liked it! Don't forget to review :)


	3. Chapter 3

I'm sorry for the time it took me to update this! I've just finished my exams and a lot of other crap, so now I can carry on writing this! I have a few more chapters written out so I'll try to keep on top of updates!  
Here's chapter 3, the world's shortest chapter!

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When I awoke the next morning, my ears were filled with feeble whimpers from the other side of the room. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and reluctantly sat up. I checked the time and flopped back down to my pillows, it was only 7 am on a Saturday and I was awake. Oh how the world would burn.

"Ugggh Matt, it's only 7 am… go back to sleep" I grumbled at the boy. He peeked out from his covers and blinked at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry"

I rolled my eyes. "Bad dream? Don't worry, you're safe here I guess" Yep I sucked at comforting people in the morning... well any time really. I just wanted to go back to sleep and wake when I was ready but even though I shut my eyes, I could still feel Matt looking at me, it seemed that he wasn't thinking of going back to sleep any time soon.

"Matt I would tell you to go down and get some breakfast, but it's probably best to wait for me. I need to sleep for a few more hours, think you can wait?" I could just let him look for the dining room by himself, but he'll probably get lost and then I'll get in shit with Roger for ditching the kid. So he's going to have to wait for me. Selfish as it seems, I need to catch up on some sleep.

Reaching down to the drawers beside me, I pulled out a Gameboy I stole from an older kid a few years back. It had a couple of games, but I didn't play it and it might keep Matt occupied while I slept. "Here, play with this while I sleep," I said tossing it over to his bed, before turning over and shutting my eyes, drifting back into my dream world.

When I awoke a few hours later, he was engrossed in the games I gave him.

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SUCH A SHORT CHAPTER I'M SORRY!  
But I hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

I am not dead! This story is not dead! I actually have a plot for this story now! Yaaay!  
I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

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A few months had passed since Matt had come to be my new room-mate. Our friendship had developed pretty well; I was surprised that he was still friends with me to be quite honest. On the second day that he was in Whammy's, he witnessed one of my most famous temper tantrums. Well of course, to me I was just expressing my thoughts, but Roger had to take it way out of control, like usual. I wasn't doing much! I was sitting on my own in the comfy area-waiting for Matt to come back from a meeting with Roger and L, when the complete asshole, Greg Buttface, as I liked to call him, began talking shit.

Naturally I overheard and called him out on it, which then made him and his pathetic gang of freaks turn on me. I beat them up. They deserved it-nobody picks on me and gets away with it. Roger was called immediately and started dragging me away. He always picks on me - though it may be because when I first arrived, I released a ton of stray rats into his office. Well anyway, Roger dragged me away kicking, screaming and cursing at him; I admit I was a little embarrassed when Matt came out behind Roger. He looked shocked but he had a small smirk on his face. I shouted to him in greeting, but Roger pulled me away before I could run over to see Matt. That got me a weeks' worth of detention but I didn't care.

I also found out what happened to Matt before he came here. I was curious about it but I didn't want him to feel pressurised into telling me everything. We just happened to come across the subject of parents one night when we were skipping movie night. I told him all about my parents and how they were stuck up bastards who never had any time for me. We were rich as shit so I had everything I wanted, but what I really wanted was a mother and a father. I began acting out; getting into fights, stealing, lying, and all sorts of horrible things. Before I could sort things out with the stupid pieces of shit, they were involved in a plane crash and died on me. I wasn't too upset; they weren't around enough for me to bond with them anyway. So I was shipped off to shitty old Whammy's.  
Compared to Matt's childhood however, mine was easy!

From what he told me, his parents were neglectful and abusive bitches and if I ever see them I swear they'll both get a good piece of my mind and then a good punch. No child deserves to go through what Matt went through… well maybe except Buttface Greg. That's what caused Matt's ribs to hurt when he first arrived – his parents beat him up, cracking a couple of ribs. Thankfully, Matt's safe with me now and where I go, he goes.

And that concludes my short tale about Matt and I in Whammy's orphanage.

Well… at least I hope it did.

I bet I can guess what you're all thinking. It'll probably be something along the lines of 'What's the point of this? Blah blah fucking blah.' Well if you listen to me, ass-fucks, I will explain.  
It is true that Matt was safe with me. Things were going great. That is until we started noticing changes.

Okay, so it wasn't me who first noticed things, but I remember everything. I wish I didn't, maybe if I had stayed ignorant, I wouldn't be plagued with nightmares. Maybe Matt and I wouldn't have become homeless and maybe we wouldn't have gotten involved with the Mafia. It's not that I regret meeting the Mafia – they've almost become family to us now. I just wish things were less chaotic.

I'm rambling. Matt constantly picks about that, so I'll start again. A few weeks after Matt and I shared the stories of our pasts, L disappeared. Okay, so he didn't disappear. He went somewhere in Japan with Watari – something about a new case they were working on. I don't know, I didn't really care all that much. But it was what happened after L left, which was what seemed particularly strange.  
Some kids began disappearing. We were told they were ill, but we knew better. Do you want to know why we knew better? I'll tell you why. A few days after L left, we got new cooks. We didn't think anything of it, that was until our meals started tasting different. The food we were served had a sort of metallic taste to it – almost like blood. Most of the kids just stuffed their faces like nothing wrong, but we were smarter than that.  
Fine, okay! So Near was smarter than that!

After a few days of refusing to eat the food we were cooked, Near dragged Matt and I into an old classroom which nobody ever used anymore.

"Argh! What do you think you're doing you crazy freak!" I seethed at him as he flicked the light to the room the three of us were in.

"You guys haven't been eating dinner." He stated obviously. I raised an eyebrow, it seemed like someone was spying on us.

"Neither have you." Matt replied cockily. Why has Matt been watching him?

Near nodded and muttered something to himself. "You've noticed the strange taste, then?"

"Well of course we've noticed it. Carrots don't taste like blood, you know. It's hard to miss." I rolled my eyes in annoyance, but then it clicked. "Wait. If we're not the only ones to notice the fucked up taste, then something's got to be going on, right?" I asked.

"That's why I came to you. I couldn't understand why at first nobody else was grimacing at their food, but then I saw you, throwing one of your hissy fits because your food tasted like shit."  
I smirked and nodded as I remembered that particular hissy fit. I started a food fight with Matt that day, we were having so much fun until Roger and the stupid fat cook came and yelled at us.

"So, you dragged us up here to complain about Mello's hissy fits?" Matt asked dully. I hissed at him playfully and stuck my tongue out at him, making him roll his eyes and stick his own tongue back out at me.

"No. If you would pay attention, I'll explain. After a couple days of the food tasting terrible, I took a couple of food samples and studied them. The samples were from food the new cook had made and from what I know for sure was bought. I sneaked into one of the science labs late at night and tested the samples." My eyes widened in surprise. Near had broken the rules!

"So it was YOU who was out of bed Tuesday night!? And Roger kept trying to blame me. You really are a sneaky rat, aren't you Near?" I exclaimed. That was hard to take in. Near, little perfect Near snuck out past bedtime and invaded classrooms. I thought only Matt and I did that.

"Yes. Well I found out that the food samples I took that the cook had made herself actually contain traces of a chemical unknown to me. It's definitely there; it's what's causing the food to taste bad, whereas the bought food seems perfectly fine."

"So what did you want from us?" Matt asked. He always asks the best questions, doesn't he? Straight to the point, no blabbing or rambling like I do.

"Well just to let you know, I guess. I'm going to try and find out what exactly is going on. If I need to, I'll call L, but for the meantime, don't eat anything home-made. Just eat what you know is store bought. I don't know what this chemical will do, but it doesn't seem good." State the obvious, Near. As if me and Matt are going to eat anything tasting like blood any time soon.

"Actually Near, Mello and I were going to sneak down into the kitchens tonight for some food. We're running out of our private stash, so I guess we could take a look at things while we're down there. Right, Mello?"

"Huh? Oh I guess so." I grumbled back, not showing that I was secretly bursting with joy at Matt's statement about us sneaking into the kitchens tonight. That was one of my favourite things to do with Matt and our private stash was getting pretty low.

"Great. Well, thanks for listening to me. I'm glad I'm not the only one tasting weird things around here." Near was being civil, which was rather odd.

"It's no problem; just let us know if you find anything else out." Matt replied as we watched Near slip back out of the classroom and close the door behind him.

Which left just Matt and I in a big empty classroom all alone, I couldn't help it.  
"Hey Matt, we're in a classroom all alone. Let play seven minutes in heaven." I suggested cheekily before bursting out in laughter. Matt only laughed with me as we left the room together.

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Tadaaa! Hope you liked it! I'll update soon :D  
Reviews are much loved!


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